Strongman Ethanol Vrdy 2023 | Report and results

I get in the car in the morning, I barely get going, the wipers start wiping, after a while they don't keep up... It brings back memories of when I was racing in Vrdy. Fortunately, this time the weather calmed down and by the time I reached the place, it was no longer raining, on the contrary, the sun was starting to shine, which lasted until the evening. This year's, already fourth year of Strongman Ethanol Vrdy 2023 is a bit different than the previous years. There are actually three races intertwined. In the morning it will be the beginners' turn, there will be thirty of them. Around noon, the Atlas Toss Championship takes place, with even the prospect of breaking national and international records. In the afternoon there will be an international competition of professional strogmans. There will definitely be something to look forward to...

I have been on the spot since early morning, because I promised Zdeněk Vávra and his wife Denise that I would demoderate the whole event. Last year everyone liked my performance. As soon as I arrived I could see how much work all the helpers, but especially Zdenek and Denise, had already done and how much they still had to prepare. And the competition hadn't even started yet. It was a blast, it was a bustle.

Slowly the first competitors started to arrive in the beginners category, who were supposed to start racing in four disciplines at 9 am. They immediately checked in with Denise, who carefully checked the lists and handed out race shirts. Pavel Cháma, the main judge of the day, also showed up after his instructions for the race and the disciplines: Farmer's Walk + Tire Flip Medley, Super Yoke, Hercules Hold, Atlas Stones. And it was time to start.

Beginners race

A total of 30 unregistered racers and strength athletes participated in the race.

Farmer's Walk + Tire Flip Medley

Trunk carrying spiced up with tire flipping, a combination of grip strength, speed and technique. Competitors were tasked with carrying 110kg suitcases as fast as possible over a distance of 20 metres and then running back to the start and flipping the tyre twice, which weighed approximately 310kg. I can say about these tyres that they are not heavy, but they are difficult to lift because of the deep arrow-shaped pattern. So you just need to know how to use them. And it was on the tire that a lot of strongmen burned, the first one who managed the whole discipline and somehow broke everything was Richard Šrank, after him only three competitors managed the whole discipline, all of them were a bit faster. The third place for the discipline went to Tomas Stoupa, who did everything in 57,41 seconds, the second place to Tomas Janecek, who had a time of 51,78 seconds. However, Martin Szabo missed everyone by a steamer, who flew through everything in an amazing 41.11 seconds.

Super Yoke

Carrying a load on your back is spectacular, all the more so when Zdenek Vávra came up with the idea of putting huge cubic water barrels instead of dumbbells. These were empty, of course, but the Super Yoke still had between 280 and 300 kg. The fighters ran again on a track 20 meters long. Tomas Stoupa took the bronze with a time of 9.96 seconds. The silver went to Maxmilian Tejkal with a time of 9.72 seconds. Martin Szabo was the fastest to cross the finish line and took the gold again with a time of 9.38 seconds.

Hercules Hold

In the Czech Republic there is not much classic equipment for Hercules Hold, it was seen at the races in Cologne in 2021, that's true, but as far as the discipline itself is concerned, in our country it is more likely to be seen in the form of holding two cars on a tilted \rovina. The principle is the same, but it just looks different. The cars are mainly used in Přelouč and Čáslav, so why not also in Vrdy. The aim was of course to keep the cars as long as possible. The third best grip was shown by Martin Szabo, who held the cars for 56.64 seconds. Slightly stronger grip was Milan Čanda alias Lord Voldemort, who held the cars for 59.12 seconds. And the longest and strongest grip was held by Lukáš Laštovka, who was the only one to break one minute with a time of 62.08 seconds.

Atlas Stones

If this is how the most famous races can end, why can't the beginners' races in Vrdy. Atlas Stones is a great discipline. Competitors tossed stones over a goat for a number of repetitions. They could choose between 100 kg and 130 kg stones, but after choosing one they could not change the stone. At the same time, the rule was that one toss with the heavier stone was more than the maximum number of tosses with the lighter stone. Also for this reason most competitors chose 130 kg and hoped to sweat out at least one repetition. The best three competitors with the same number of repetitions, which were six, were Karel Pastýř, Maxmilian Tejkal and Tomáš Janeček.

It's here, only four disciplines were held, but the competition is over, the results count. We hope that the few hundred spectators and competitors enjoyed the whole race. Either way, I can say that it was a fight to the last minute, and that none of the competitors gave up. Perhaps even more important info is that no one got hurt, although in the hot sun the rocks especially gave more fighters a hard time. Overall third place was won by Lord Voldemort Milan Čanda with a total of 99,5 points. Nine points more earned Maxmilian Tejkal and took the silver prize with 108.5 points. The most points, 114 in total, were collected by the overall winner, who took the golden prize. It was Martin Szabo. Congratulations.

Czech Republic Championship in Atlas Stone Tossing

At noon another race was to start, and it was nothing less than the Czech Republic Atlas Stone Tossing Championship for maximum weight over the official bar. This race was also an international one and the original intention was to break the national or even world record. Some things worked out, some didn't, unfortunately this part of the race was not under the baton of Zdeněk Vávra, and not everything always works out as it should. Fortunately, the whole team around Zdeněk and Denisa, especially thanks to the "kapa" of the loaders Tomáš Kleman, for his perfect approach, everything went well, also thanks to the Fitness Center Čáslav Jiří Dejmal and thanks to Pavel Zadražil the race could take place at all. Everything else was small things that could be managed by improvisation.

After those peripetias, the race started with about an hour delay, which was filled by Jana Roubalová, the only representative of the fair sex, lady, girl, woman, strongwoman, who competed today. Jana attempted to set the Czech record of throwing the Atlas stone to the maximum weight. She succeeded, she started lightly with 100 kg, then loaded 110 kg and repeated the performance, continuing with 120 kg. Again without hesitation. The next attempt on the 130 kg stone failed, although Jana promised that next time she would definitely fall. The new Czech women's record in the Atlas stone throw was therefore set at 120 kg. Bravo Jana.

The men's competition continued, with a total of six competitors fighting for the victory - Luboš Klinecký, Jiří Dejmal, Norbert Švarc, Csaba Kontas, Ludvík Lang and Emanuel Pescari. As far as the Czech fighters are concerned, no one has been able to lift a 200 kg Atlas at the Czech competitions so far. So there was a lot to play for. The competitors warmed up to 140 kg, they all gave like nothing. The first valid attempts were made with 160 kg. Again, no one faltered, nor did anyone at 180 kg or 195 kg. Here I must mention that Norbert Švarc broke the Czech national record in the U105 category but also the world record in the junior category. Today is just a great day. But the best was yet to come. The second comment I have is that Ludvík Lang, who unfortunately crushed his leg last year with Atlas and he was healing for a long time, broke his personal record with a valid attempt of 180 kg. Judging by the photos and the discussion with him, it was definitely not pleasant. But he was able to come back and it made him stronger.

The competition continued with Emanuel Pescari, who had his teeth set on the U105 world record of 228 kg, skipping a few weights and wanting to focus only on maximum power. So, our fighters Jiri Dejmal and Lubos Klinecky went for an attempt of 200 kg. First Jiri succeeded and then Lubos did the same. Congratulations gentlemen, you just hold the official Czech record of 200 kg.

Then the competition continued and the so-called soaking atlas was used, i.e. a hollow casting into which metal balls can be filled to the desired value. Emanuel Pescari thus set a new European official record for the Atlas stone lift in the U105 category. Unfortunately, both Czech fighters did not make it either. After further discussions whether it would be possible to finish the stone at the world attempt, i.e. 230 kg, which was the original reason for the initial delay, the finish was successful, but to make matters worse, the technique betrayed, the weight died. Fortunately, more than one strongman has a scale and lent us another one. Everything was successful, but due to the heat, time downtime and maybe even nervousness Emanuel couldn't break the world record. However, he took it all like a true professional, no fussing, raging or cursing... no, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that it just didn't happen today because it's supposed to happen, but that he would break the record next time.

Once again I will go back to the thank you's, thanks to Jiri Dejmal and his Fitnesscenter Čáslav for lending us some stones, to Pavel Zadražil, for lending us the scale, to Tomas Kleman and the loader guys for their quick response and bringing the stones from Fitnesscenter Čáslav, without you it wouldn't have worked out today.

Professional strongman competition

Around half past three today's third race started. Most of the spectators stayed, but many more came. Since there was a slight delay in the start, it was not advisable to waste time, so after the introduction of nine fighters, the fight started right away. There were fewer professionals than beginners in the morning, but they enjoyed two more disciplines for it.

The pros competed in:

• Viking press - 230 kg
• Farmer's Walk - 170 kg
• Fingal finger - 4x - 200 kg
• Super Yoke - 430 kg
• Hercules Hold
• Medley - Tire Flip, Barrel Flip, Car flip

The professional competition was with international participation, so besides Czech fighters Pavel Zadražil, Lubos Klinecky, Lukáš Svoboda and organizer Zdeněk Vávra, the audience was introduced to Antonio Sternativo and Paolo Acquaviva from Italy, Matthias Winnerl from Germany, Jakub Sandtner from Slovakia and Evan Aryee from distant Ghana, who lives in Belgium for a long time. I would like to single out one name in particular, namely the huge Czech racer Lubos Klinecky, who was originally supposed to enter only the Atlas stones race, but after another racer dropped out, he found out about two days before that he could start, and without preparation, without delay, he immediately agreed. Hats off to him.

Viking press

Viking press, a discipline that arouses emotions not only in the world, because of the technique of execution, because of the grip. In addition, each design of the Viking press is different and so it is not possible to objectively compare the performance in several competitions. In addition, it is technically very strict, it is not allowed to do the so-called double-dip, i.e. under-rotation, but it can bend and flex. So that's exactly the reason for the emotion. A lot of the emphasis here is on the shoulders of the judge, what he will and will not accept. Fortunately in Vrdy everything was done correctly and there was nothing to argue about. Moreover, Viking rather troubled most of the competitors, including Zdeněk, who I know can perform valid reps for a long time with this weight... The overall result of the discipline is that four competitors couldn't get the announced 230 kg overhead at all and four competitors managed a single repetition. The only one who stepped out of the crowd and showed tremendous strength in his shoulders was Matthias Winnerl with his eight valid reps.

Farmer's Walk

Take a 170 kg weight in each hand and run. Does it seem impossible? No, this really is possible, but you have to be a strength sports nut and train hard for a few years. It's a fact that the 20 meter track has even bothered the professionals, mainly because of the heat, the handrails can slip and your hands sweat. Only three competitors brought their suitcases to the finish line. The bronze medalist Zdenek Vávra with a time of 36,91 seconds, after his suitcase fell out twice and he had to pick it up again, unfortunately it will delay, otherwise he would have had an amazing time. The silver went to Pavel Zadražil, who had a half time of 18.87 seconds. But the winner of the discipline was Evan Aryee, who literally flew through the course in 12.4 seconds.

Fingal Finger

Rotation of a pole weighing approximately 200 kg. At first glance, it may not seem like a very difficult discipline, but by lifting the pole and walking with your hands underneath it, the lever gets shorter and the pole gets heavier. The competitors were tasked with turning Fingal's finger four times. Even so, three strongmen in the starting field failed to do so. Pavel Zadražil earned the bronze in the discipline, managing four turns in 43.84 seconds. Jakub Sandtner took the silver thanks to his time of four turns in 41.82 and the first place on the discipline thanks to 35.67 for four turns was taken by the local Zdenda Vávra.

Super Yoke

Same discipline as the morning for the beginners, but the empty water barrels were replaced by the tires from the loader. The Super Yoke for the pros weighed in at a respectable 430 kg. I must say that the time limit of one minute was far from necessary, as Zdenda Vávra took third place in the discipline in a time of 13.97 seconds. The second place was taken by Luboš Klinecký, who whizzed across the finish line in an amazing 13.14 seconds. However, the gold was repeated by Evan Aryee, who crossed the finish line in 11.01 seconds. And he still looked like he was running lightly.

Hercules Hold

Same event as the morning, but the cars were switched. This time it was the heavier of the two on the platform. That's why the times are similar to the morning. Third place was held by Zdenek Vávra with a time of 41.33 seconds. Jakub Sandtner showed a better grip, keeping the cars a hundredths longer, 41.39 seconds. Evan Aryee added another win with a time of 43.32.

Medley

Medley is always a composite discipline of multiple events. Usually an adjective is added to it, such as the push medley, where objects are lifted overhead. Here, a good adjective is a spinning... I mean, a spinning medley. The competitors had to run off the start line, flip a 45e kg tyre, then run over, flip a 1100 kg cubic barrel of water on its side, then run over and flip a car on its side or roof, not falling back onto its wheels, and then run back to the start. It sounds more complicated than it is. Anyway, it certainly wasn't easy. A total of three competitors failed to get over the barrel, which had to be cleverly, first lifted off the ground with brute force, then leaned into with the body , like a tire rotation, and when the water splashed, the competitors had won. Even so, Paolo Acquaviva had torn off all the calluses on his hands. Third place for 29,77 went to Pavel Zadražil, second place to Luboš Klinecký for 26,85. The fastest was Zdenek Vávra with a time of 25.47.

Again, it was a fight till the last moment, before the last discipline was led by an amazingly racing Evan Aryee from Ghana, who besides his tremendous strength also showed tremendous speed, however, the last discipline did not work out and so he dropped to third place with a total of 38 points. Pavel Zadražil, who stayed close to the podium the whole race, took it, his silver position with 38,5 points was definitely earned. Zdenek Vávra was also at the top with his constant performances, collecting 45.5 points in the final total and taking the trophy and prizes for the winner of the race.

But after the results ceremony, photographing with the spectators and general interaction with them, the whole event did not end there, the race track turned into an open air concert hall in no time, where a local music band performed. Spectators were entertained all day not only by the races, but by the huge number of side events, for young and old there was the opportunity to try out the children's versions of strongman disciplines, the little ones could go to the bouncy castle or to chat to the Drivers Helping Children. There was also a rich raffle and stands with refreshments and race-themed T-shirts. The event was designed to be enjoyed by young and old alike and could be there all day. At the same time, I already know that Zdeněk, Denisa and others will be planning the next edition, so what, will we meet there next year? I will be there, you can race, or cheer, or just enjoy a great day.

The whole race could not have been realized if not for the contributions or help of the following entities.
Švarcik automechanik, Autoškola Hartlová, Kavalier sklárny Sázava, Kávy pitel, Zenit Čáslav, KFC, Futurum Kolín, Taxi Chalupa, Směnárna Vyměníme s.r.o, SCafe Čáslav cukrárna, Pivovar Čáslav, UNCS, Kulturistika.com, Bistro u Valise, GG Booster, M doprava Čáslav s.r.o, Zdeněk Málek, Meltal Guys, Expert electro Čáslav, Fimalstav betonové foty Filip Blatný, Pilc odpady, Hračkárna Kutná Hora Martin Černý, Dan trans s.r.o, Maso Dalešický Čáslav, U černého kohouta Kutná Hora, Strongman Czech Republic, České mobilní toalety, Řidiči pomáhají dětem - a non-profit organization that helps children from children's homes

Thanks to